This wonderful opinion will open your eyes to the biased poll that was “manufactured” by Appalachian State University’s Energy Department and Professor Dennis Scanlin. In 2005 Dennis Scanlin stated this about second home owners in NC : ” The irrational paranoia that currently exists and the selfishness of the second-home owners who seem to be the primary opponents of wind energy in the state…” That is right, he blames second home owners for the lack of support of wind power.

So Scanlin designs a poll that makes sure no second home owners are called! In addition to designing the poll, he interprets the data!

Does anyone else feel like wind energy is being forced on us? Do you feel like those who want to destroy our ridgelines as so desperate that they are even producing biased polls to support this greenwashing

Appalachian Voices also put this biased poll on their web site!

This appeared in the Watauga County Democrat on May 3, 2010.

Many, many thanks to George Kosinski was writing this and exposing the Scanlin Scandal!

Support the Ridge Law
Editor:
As a full-time resident of Ashe County, and originally from England, perhaps I might be permitted a few words in support of the Ridge Law? Do wind turbines belong to the Blue Ridge Mountains?
The Watauga Democrat recently announced the results of a poll by Public Policy Polling that shows “Support for Wind Turbines.” The same article tips off the reader to possible bias and vested interests, but this can be easily overlooked. The poll was a private survey conducted for ASU’s Energy Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and involving Dennis Scanlin, the coordinator of the Appropriate Technology Program. The announced results of the survey were a summary and must be treated in the light of inherent bias.
Partial residents were deliberately filtered out, 44 percent of respondents have “never seen a modern wind turbine” and 85 percent want to “see” more!
Add further depth to the questions and you might reverse the answers!
There is so much brainwashing on this subject that the moment you talk about wind, you suddenly have a mental picture that says, “We don’t want coal!”, when fossil fuels are absent in the question!
It begs us to explore, to what degree is “thinking” dominated by fad-factors sown between the lines. We have been swept around by so many fads in recent years and at what cost, when so much of the solution is trimming on our consumption, which doesn’t get that much attention.
The argument isn’t for or against harnessing wind, but whether the massive, obtrusive, inappropriate, repetitive, factory fabricated, geometric sabers slashing in the wind make any sense, whatsoever, of belonging to pristine, organically shaped and much enjoyed natural amenities, that brings tourism to this area.
The Blue Ridge Mountains, where unspoiled, have been a wonderful source of inspiration for so many generations, and I am hopeful that good stewardship will prevail in the future. Do support the Ridge Law.
George Kosinski
Grassy Creek